Facebook suspends accounts over Alabama Senate race tactics

MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) — Facebook has suspended five accounts for misleading tactics during last year’s U.S. Senate race in Alabama.

A statement from Facebook says the company “recently removed five accounts run by multiple individuals for engaging in coordinated inauthentic behavior on Facebook around the Alabama special election.” Facebook says the investigation is ongoing.

The Washington Post and New York Times have reported that a social media researcher acknowledged testing misleading online tactics during U.S. Sen. Doug Jones’ campaign against Republican Roy Moore last year.

The effort was modeled on alleged Russian attempts to bolster the candidacy of President Donald Trump in 2016.